


Free Fall (Into My Arms)

by sunspritecyj



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 15:01:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16704751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunspritecyj/pseuds/sunspritecyj
Summary: Jaebeom knows how to skate, but Youngjae does not need to know that.





	Free Fall (Into My Arms)

**Author's Note:**

> Is it too early for a 2jae Christmas fic? :D

The first time Im Jaebeom meets Choi Youngjae, he collides face first into a Christmas tree placed at the center of an ice skating rink in front of an audience that is mostly composed of pre-pubescent teens.

Nothing romantic if you ask Jaebeom and it happens when he and his long-time friend slash debut mate Park Jinyoung had been given a day off by the company. The two had just concluded the last leg of JJ Project’s concert tour in South Korea which happens to be in Mokpo. They will be travelling back to Seoul later in the evening to celebrate Christmas with their families before flying to London to start the European leg of their world tour. 

It was Wang Jackson who decided an impromptu window shopping is in order stating a rare day off not to mention Christmas Eve are very acceptable excuses for a lavish spending. Jackson dragged the uninterested duo and a very unwilling Kunpimook Bambam out of the comforts of their respective hotel rooms to the freezing weather at the heart of Mokpo. Jackson flew all the way from China to catch JJ Project’s last stop in South Korea, afraid that he would not be able to watch any of their shows in Europe because of his own schedules. Meanwhile, Bambam, a respectable director in his own right, left his studio in Thailand for a couple of weeks to visit some scenic places in Jeolla that he has been eyeing to include in JJ Project’s next MV due for release next spring.

The group had several hours to kill before they were due to return back to the hotel and pack their things for their flight and that’s when an overly excited Jackson spotted the ice skating rink, the temporary kind, set up with plastic barriers and decorated with colorful poles strung up with Christmas lights, advertisement banners plastered all over the place and a giant Christmas tree with a local mall’s logo in place of a star at the center.

The rink is unsurprisingly filled with people - parents holding their children by the arms as they guide them in skating, couples holding each other’s hands as they make their way around the rink, some struggling, others gliding with ease, but most simply having a fun time.

Jaebeom takes one look before he says, “No.”

Bambam sighs, “Hyung, can you please stop being a spoilsport? For once?” 

Jackson tries to pout cutely, “C’mon, it’ll be fun.”

“It won’t work on me.” Jaebeom replies with finality in his voice. He glances at Jinyoung expecting him to agree.

“I think it will be fun too.” Jinyoung decides after a beat and Jaebeom mouths ‘traitor’ under his breath.

Jackson and Bambam dragged Jaebeom in the direction of the skate rental with Jinyoung following calmly behind like a parent, ignoring all of Jaebeom’s protests in the process.

So that is how, Im Jaebeom, one of the most celebrated singers of his generation, winds up stepping onto a makeshift ice skating rink in the middle of Mokpo. He is not foreign with the feel of the ice underneath the blades of his rented skating shoes. He served as team captain of the ice hockey varsity team back in high school and led it to the Nationals twice in a row, after all. 

Jaebeom’s scanning the crowd to look for his companions who had the audacity to abandon him after insisting on skating together when he sees a man out of the corner of his eye and promptly skates straight into the Christmas tree, tumbling into the mass of plastic pine needles and getting smacked mercilessly by a thousand Christmas lights.

He hears rapid and alarmed murmurs of _oh my gods_ and _what happened _as he sits up in the middle of the broken pine branches. ‘It’s all Jackson’s fault’ Jaebeom grumbles, attempting to untangle himself from the string of rainbow lights but only seeming to make things worse. He gives up and waits for help to come by. Jaebeom’s vision is blurry thanks to the lights that have snugly wrapped themselves around his head for some reason. He squints as the hazy figure of the small man that had sent him flying straight into the tree starts forming in front of him.__

____

____

“Uhm…Are...are you okay? Uh here, let me help you.” The man says, extending a hand for Jaebeom to hold on to.

“Do you know how to skate?” The man continues with his probing. He helps Jaebeom back onto his feet, steadying him when he stumbles a little - which Jaebeom will no doubt blame on being winded from the fall and not at all an excuse to grab the other’s hands.

When Jaebeom still does not offer an answer, the man lets go of Jaebeom’s hands in favour of waving it wildly in the air. “Not that I’m dissing you – “

There’s a name tag on the man’s cotton candy pink jacket that resembles some of the others Jaebeom has seen around the rink.

_Oh._

So his name’s Youngjae. Choi Youngjae.

“ – it’s just that I’m a skating teacher here, and uh, only on a temporary basis though because...you know how places like this can get a little crowded over the holidays…and it’s also my job to help people out when they don’t know how to skate – ” 

The man – Youngjae – pauses his ramble to take a deep breath. He pulls anxiously at the red scarf snugly wrapped around his neck, looking slightly embarrassed at Jaebeom.

“ – and you kinda...skated into the Christmas tree.” Youngjae finishes, nervously biting his bottom lip.

“Well…” Jaebeom starts but does not continue because where does one even begin with _“I definitely know how to skate, I was captain of the ice hockey varsity team back in high school but I got distracted because I think you’re really cute and the news of me embarrassing myself in public by stumbling face first on a Christmas tree will definitely appear on the web sooner than I can get your number –“_

But then Youngjae smiles, his eyes beaming with encouragement and goes, “Is this your first time skating?”

Just behind Youngjae, Jaebeom sees Jinyoung and Jackson observing curiously nearby with Bambam already whipping out his phone from his pocket to film the whole thing. 

“...Yes, it is,” Jaebeom lies through gritted teeth. He watches Jackson laughing like a hyena with a stunned but amused Jinyoung grinning beside him. 

“I see!” Youngjae says, delighted, his exhale making a little puff of mist. Jaebeom observes with glee how Youngjae’s cheeks redden a little.

“Would you...would you like me to show you how?”

“Of course!” Jaebeom answers without hesitation. “Shall I call you coach then?” He adds playfully and revels a little as that delightful flush grow even redder.

“Oh no! Please don’t call me coach!” Youngjae replies in a fluster, gliding back a little on the ice and shoving his once flailing hands into the pockets of his uniform jacket.

“Actually, uh, I’m just going to check if Mark – he’s one of part-timers here like me – can cover this side of the rink – ”

“Am I disturbing you?”

“Oh no! Absolutely not! My shift’s over now, actually!” Youngjae turns around on his skates in the direction of the entrance booth so fast that he nearly knocks into someone and Jaebeom has to fight back the urge to skate right up to catch him. “I’ll be right back!”

Jaebeom watches Youngjae animatedly talk to this _Mark_ across the rink as his own group of friends excitedly skates right next to him.

Jinyoung folds his arms, an eyebrow already raised.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“If it isn’t already obvious, I’m learning how to skate.” Jaebeom’s painfully aware of the fact that he’s wearing a dumb happy smile on his face but he has no intention of hiding it.

“Does high school ice hockey varsity team captain Im Jaebeom ringing any bells?”

“Jackson...”

“Should I add the fact that same captain led the team to the Nationals twice in a row? Earning himself a college scholarship to a prestigious university abroad as a result but turned it down because apparently he wanted to be a singer all along? Do you guys know this person?”

“Shut up, Bambam.”

“Not that I’m against your flirting game,” Jinyoung says while looking at Youngjae’s direction, “it was funny actually, how you acted like a school boy harbouring a crush for the first time, but do you really have to lie?”

“I…” Jaebeom starts, but then he realizes that he really has no excuse so he just shuts his mouth and resorts to the tried and tested Im Jaebeom method that only works on Jinyoung: Puppy dog eyes.

Beside him Bambam looks like he wants to die on the spot, “Hyung, you already earned the top spot in the search engines tonight after graciously body slamming a poor Christmas tree in public – don’t look at me like that! There are fans around and has recorded your moment! “

“If you want to stay on the trending spot then continue flirting with the cute guy. Who knows? You might find yourself having a dating scandal tomorrow. Does he know you’re a celebrity?” Jackson teases before Jinyoung gives him the look that says he’ll regret it if he continues talking.

Jaebeom spots Youngjae heading back to him through the crowd and he abruptly shoos the rest of his companions off.

“Sorry for the wait!” Youngjae apologizes as he finally breaks through the crowd and skates up in front of Jaebeom, who helpfully takes this opportunity to reach out and steady the shorter male. Youngjae is actually quite nicely built beneath his petite frame and he should really throw away the horrible shapeless pink jacket– 

“I’m Jaebeom by the way,” He offers and the other stops short, mouth falling open and hands flying up to cover it with horror reflecting in his eyes.

“Oh no! I haven’t introduced myself! That’s so rude of me, my name is Choi – uh, Young – ”

Jaebeom could not stop the smile forming on his face, “I know - it says on your tag.”

Youngjae blinks. “...Oh. Yes. Right, of course.”

Youngjae laughs and ducks his head a little in embarrassment and Jaebeom slightly turns his head to the side, smiling along with him.

“So!” Youngjae claps his hands together, standing up straighter and all shyness gone. “Let’s start with the skating lessons, shall we? Skating is really simple! Put your legs like this first – ”

Jaebeom expects it to be terribly boring – especially if it’s pretending to learn the things that he had come to memorize at the back of his mind in his younger years. But strangely, here, beneath the warm amber of the Christmas lights that plays rainbows across Youngjae’s light brown eyes as he walks him through the basics, it’s like he’s a child again and stepping onto the rink for the very first time, endlessly charmed by the way skaters glide effortlessly on ice.

Jaebeom can also see how good of a teacher Youngjae is. He is good at explaining how to skate, endlessly patient, all the while keenly paying attention to Jaebeom’s every movement and never failing to reach out to steady him with strong, gentle touches whenever Jaebeom tries really, really hard to unbalance himself. He was ice hockey team captain before alright! It’s difficult!

When Youngjae shares that he almost pursued a career in singing but is currently saving up to enrol himself in a University in Seoul to become a music therapist in the future, Jaebeom wonders what it would be like to be comforted by Youngjae’s music. Jabeom finds this side of Youngjae fascinating, and he’s eager to discover more about him than anything else.

The skating that the both of them are doing is nothing fancy, just the basic slow forward skating across the ice, swerving slowly around people, with Santa Claus is coming to Town playing endlessly in the background. Yet there’s something about Youngjae’s skating, and skating with him, that seems to keep him entranced in the moment, lightheaded by the simple beauty of it all.

Youngjae’s moving away from Jaebeom now to test the latter’s balancing skills and Jaebeom obviously would not have any of that.

So he pretends to swerve and stumble a bit, and immediately Youngjae’s by his side and holding his arm to steady him.

“Sorry, I don’t think I’ve got the hang of the balance yet,” Jaebeom apologizes, eyes scanning the people behind Youngjae to see if his friends are witnessing this not so chick side of him. 

Youngjae shakes his head and offers his hand for Jaebeom to take, “It’s okay! Here! I won’t let you fall.”

Jaebeom smiles, resisting the urge to say, _‘but I think I already have.’_

The two end up skating hand in hand, Youngjae pulling him gently along the bright lights, rounding the rink slowly, then faster and faster, night wind caressing their hair gently. 

Jaebeom’s about to subtly tuck his and Youngjae’s intertwined hands inside his coat pocket when the public address system suddenly bursts into life, announcing that the rink would be closing for the night. Jaebeom swears on the inside. What great timing! He has never hated an electronic system as much as that moment.

“You’re a fast learner!” Youngjae compliments Jaebeom as they skate to a stop in the middle of the rink, “If you happen to stop by again I or if I’m not around, either Mark or Yugyeom, the other part-timer here who skates really well, could teach - ah, but you mentioned earlier you have to fly back to Seoul…”

Youngjae face falls with disappointment and then he catches their still clasped hands and immediately lets go with a small jump.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t realize – “ Youngjae’s starts, but Jaebeom’s eyeing the rink that is rapidly clearing of people.

It’s his last chance.

“Coach, we’ve only skated forwards at a minimum so when do you think I can pull backward crossovers and that move akin to a bunny hop that I see on television?”

Youngjae frowns, “Another skating session, I guess. The figure skates you rented do not have toepicks at the front end of the blades so i could not teach you any basic figure skating moves or jumps or you may hurt yourself and others around you – “

“How about this - If I do it, you’ll have to give me your number."

“What?!” Youngjae’s eyes go wide as he stammers back in response.

Jaebeom pouts as he skates closer to Youngjae, “Getting your number is no good? How about a kiss then?”

Youngjae’s face immediately grows red once again. “That’s a bit –”

“Not even as a gift? It’s almost Christmas Eve, you know.”

Youngjae looks torn, nibbling on his lower lip nervously.

“Well, alright but it’s not that you can – ”

That’s all Jaebeom needs to hear.

“Is that a challenge?” Jaebeom grins and then shoots straight across the rink, “Watch me!”

“Ah wait, but it’s dangerous!”

Jaebeom speeds up as he rounds the curve of the rink and then launches himself into the air with ease, wind whipping around him as he pulls off a toe loop perfectly, landing to a scatter of applause from the remaining audience in the rink. Letting his figure skating friends teach him the basics during their downtime in practicing back in high school turned out to be beneficial in the long run.

Youngjae is staring at him in complete disbelief, mouth hanging wide open. “Jaebeom...you...you knew how to skate all this while?”

Jaebum’s heart drops. “I’m so – ”

“Sorry to interrupt this supposedly climactic moment of revelation but this idiot here is ice hockey team captain back in his teenage years so yes, he ‘knows’ how to skate,” Jackson cuts in as he skates between the two, head turning in Youngjae's direction, “We have to go right now because his manager would skin us alive if we don’t leave this instant!”

Jackson grabs Jaebeom by the neck hauling him across the ice and towards the exit.

Jinyoung approaches Youngjae looking apologetic, “I’m sorry about that. Jaebeom is stupid but he’s a good person. We have a flight to catch tonight so we’ll go ahead. Merry Christmas to you!”

Before Youngjae could react, a phone is shoved on his face with the words ‘add new contact’ appearing on the screen, “Hi, I’m Bambam but you can call me Double B. I’m a respectable director despite the questionable character of my friends. Please give me your contact information so I could get in touch with you for possible projects in the future. I have a feeling you’ll fit well in my new music video!”

Against his better judgement of not giving personal information to strangers, Youngjae finds himself typing his contact details in Bambam’s phone.

“You still owe me a kiss!” Jaebeom yells out over the ice to where Youngjae is still standing. “I’ll come back to collect my reward so be prepared!”

“You’re embarrassing please calm your hormones,” Jinyoung grits out and Jackson laughs still holding Jaebeom in a tight grasp. Bambam good-naturedly waves goodbye to Youngjae who awkwardly waves back.

Watching Jaebeom’s retreating form from where he’s left alone, Youngjae can’t help but smile to himself. 

He’s already looking forward to Jaebeom’s return.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a short tweet fic but I got carried away towards the end so might as well post it here.
> 
> I'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/sunspritecyj) if anyone wants to talk more about ice hockey varsity team captain Im Jaebeom and amateur skating coach Choi Youngjae ♥


End file.
